Artist Profile

Sheila Gaffney

Concepts
The central theme in my practice is a reflection upon what it is to be human. The body, humble substances, space and place are the tools I use to mediate this. I work as a sculptor siting objects, creating installations and contriving social participations in interior sites which vary in context. Using the exhibition in an attitudinal manner I have engaged with ideas such as identity; the boundaries between high art and low art; gender; class; work and labour; communities; museology; and the nature of public space. Common to some of my projects has been the process of drawing into the production a volunteer 'community' as I contrive to make a space for viewing art that is neither didactic nor hierarchical. I work with a variety of mediums but wax has a significant place in my practice. I particularly engage with its materiality to construct analytical and reflexive sculpture which locates the viewer in a critical position.
Influences
Society/individual, identity/gender, memory/history, class, sculpture.
Career Path
My Foundation and Undergraduate years were spent at the Camberwell School of Art & Crafts in London followed by postgraduate studies at the Slade School of Fine Art. Awards include the Natsopa Award for Sculpture and the Vikki Oppenheim Blum Rites of Passage Travel Award and I have received bursaries from The Arts Council of England, Yorkshire and Humberside Arts, and the Yorkshire Arts Development Programme. I have held Artist in Residence positions at Dean Clough Halifax, Cliffe Castle Museum and during The UK Year of the Artist at First Direct Bank Plc. I have contributed numerous papers at international conferences on various aspects of my practice and have been a visiting lecturer at several institutions. In conjunction with my practice I am currently Course Leader for BA(Hons) Fine Art at Leeds College of Art.read full statement